QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK

formerly Ruwenzori National Park, national park, southwestern Uganda. It occupies an area of 764 square miles (1,978 square km) in a region of rolling plains east of Lake Edward and foothills south of the Ruwenzori Mountains. The park is located within the Western Rift Valley, and its landscape is dotted with volcanic craters of Pleistocene age (i.e., 10,000 to 1,600,000 years old). Established in 1952, the park is one of the largest in Uganda and adjoins the frontier of Congo (Kinshasa) to the west. Its vegetation consists mostly of thickets of various types of small trees, including acacias and evergreens. There are also areas of rainforest and of savanna grassland. The park's wildlife includes chimpanzee, leopard, lion, elephant, hippopotamus, water buffalo, and several types of antelopes, such as duiker, reedbuck, and topi. The park has an extremely rich avian fauna, prominent among which are many species of kingfishers.